Seafriends seminar programmefor the year 2006www.seafriends.org.nz/seminars/
updated 28 May 2006

facing ecological disaster?

The Seafriends seminar programme reaches
out to business and community leaders all over New Zealand. They will be
held in the major towns at times convenient for all. New Zealand is entering
a critical period for its terrestrial and marine environments. These seminars
aim to make people aware of the special place New Zealand occupies in the
world and how sensitive its environments are and how rapidly these are
degrading. The seminars trace the effects our actions have on the environment
and how to minimise these. The programme is backed by extensive scientific
information on the Seafriends web site and must be seen as an introduction
to the NZ ecology and its problems. The seminars give people the chance
to meet the author, Dr Floor Anthoni and to ask burning questions.Leaders, movers and shakers will appreciate
Dr Anthoni's direct and forthright style of delivery with many diagrams
and examples. Ecological and mathematical principles that apply to business
and society will become your new decision tools. You won't be sorry you
did attend.

Never before have these issues been presented
to the public!The information and presentation are entirely
new!

Please not that even after spending thousands
of dollars on advertising, letters and free invitations, the interest for
these seminars amounted to 1.0 attendee per seminar, all of whom were friends.
Clearly a nation, so disinterested in the future of its own children, deserves
to learn the hard way.

About the authorDutch born Dr Floor Anthoni immigrated to New Zealand in 1975. With
a doctorate in computer science from the Technical University of Delft
in Holland, he spent most of his time in New Zealand furthering his computer
company and designing quality software. But around 1987 all that changed
(a mid-life crisis perhaps?) when he saw how rapidly New Zealand's marine
environment was degrading. In 1990 he decided to devote the remainder of
his life fighting for the sea he loves.

He and his wife Maria, spent their savings and earnings on realising
the Seafriends Marine Conservation and Education Centre in Leigh. Dr Anthoni
retrained himself as a marine ecologist, specialising on matters related
to degradation. He is driven by a single question that nobody could answer:
Why
are we losing so much so fast, and why now, here in New Zealand? It
is truly a perplexing question for a rather new country with so few inhabitants.
But the coal miners' canaries of the sea [see box below], the species
that are not affected by direct exploitation, had a strong message that
became stronger still over the years. Today, our coastal seas are deteriorating
at an alarming and explosive rate. Action cannot be postponed and everyone
should become aware as also everyone has to play a role.

In 1997 Dr Anthoni began the Seafriends web site to reach out and to
have a medium, large enough to explain in detail the science behind the
phenomena. This informative educational site is now about 3000 pages in
print, with some 1000 diagrams and drawings, and over 5000 images. In 2005
the web site drew 1.5 million distinct visitors and transmitted 150 gigabytes
of data. Growing at 30% per year, the message is gradually reaching more
people. The seminar series is the latest attempt to get to the hearts and
minds of the people who wish to pass on to future generations a world that
is better rather than worse than the one they inherited themselves. This
will amount to a gargantuan effort during which we cannot afford to make
mistakes, because quite evidently, we do not have such resources.

You may quite easily think that these seminars are but the scare mongering
of a derailed scientist who is quite alone in what he writes and says.
But in the 15 years of going it alone, Dr Anthoni made epoch making
discoveries that now lead the fledgling science of degradation. Remember
that the miners' canaries of the sea do not lie and do not have
political agendas. What they are showing is as real as gravity (stones
falling back to Earth), even though much knowledge was gained from observation
(anecdotal evidence as scientists call it). Having had two legs
firmly planted in the economic reality of business, Dr Anthoni does not
associate with the green movements, but rather promotes a common sense
approach to conservation, one that looks at the wider issues and that takes
cost and effectiveness into account. Leaders of society will appreciate
Dr Anthoni's direct and forthright delivery with many diagrams to jog the
mind. The seminars are also backed by the extensive documentation on the
Seafriends web site.

The
coal miners' canaryCoal miners all over the
world, who work hundreds of metres underground, are threatened by invisible
and non-odorous gases like natural gas (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO).
Of these two the carbon monoxide is the most perilous as it binds to the
red hemoglobin molecule in the blood, preventing blood cells from transporting
oxygen (O2). A poisoned coalminer thus suffocates without any severe symptoms. It was discovered that a
small yellow song bird, a canary, was much more sensitive to carbon monoxide
poisoning than humans, so miners took these birds in small cages down the
mine shafts with them. If a bird showed symptoms of distress, miners would
save themselves by going into well ventilated tunnels. Often 2-3 birds
were used to better interpret the symptoms. But around 1986 the birds were
replaced by electronic sniffers with dials and alarms.The miners' canaries
of the sea are those species that are not fished commercially nor affected
by fishing, and that are somewhat sensitive to the threat from poor water
quality. These species, not being able to swim around, are not able to
avoid threats. Sessile creatures like sponges and seaweeds are good indicator
species and when they suffer, there exists no reason why other species
like free swimming fishes would not suffer likewise, even though some are
more sensitive than others. [photo: BBC]

About the content of the lecturesThe problem is quite simple: water falls on the land and drains back
to the sea. From the land and where people live, the water carries substances
with it. In small amounts these are beneficial, but when overstepping a
maximum, they rapidly become harmful. As we are losing our precious soils,
we are destroying our coastal seas and also losing our beaches. The solutions
are quite simple: reduce the number of people, severely limit what they
can do, and return our productive lands into native forests. Although these
solutions are guaranteed to work, they are also unacceptable. So how can
we save our land and sea with a growing population that will waste more
as well? We obviously need to be very much smarter, but before a doctor
can prescribe a cure, the patient must first be diagnosed. Knowledge is
essential to decision making.

Why is New Zealand such a special place?There exist compelling reasons why New Zealand is not like most of
the world. Through millions of years of isolation it has evolved a flora
and fauna that are unique. What is often overlooked, is that the soils
that formed underneath our unique forests, are also unique. When burnt,
they are unexpectedly fertile due to thick layers of humus and top soil,
as also underneath even thicker layers of subsoil were formed, capable
of holding moisture. Now, some 50-100 years later, the humus has disappeared
and also most of the top soil, leaving the deep sub soils to erode ever
faster. NZ soils have proved to be exceptionally sensitive. We must understand
first how we have wasted our soils.

What is happening to the sea?As soils are bleeding into the sea, the fertility for future generations
is lost to the sea water in the form of nutrients as also a layer of sticky
mud suffocates marine creatures. The consequences of this potent cocktail
are unexpectedly damaging and for good reasons their threat increases rapidly
beyond imagination. It explains why the past two decades have been unlike
millions of years before. Degradation of our seas is rapidly wiping out
our native marine fauna and flora which evolved in very clear waters. It
is now threatening our coastal fisheries. We must understand how degradation
proceeds and why our seas are equally sensitive as the land.

Ecological principlesBehind all knowledge one can find rules, and it is the task of science
to find the rules describing the natural environment we live in. Many of
these rules also apply to human behaviour, business and society. It is
important to understand the principles behind resource management, because
even your life can thought of as a resource. It is equally important to
know why threats are accelerating and what their motives are.

New insightDr Anthoni's epoch-making discovery of an important but overlooked
ecological factor in the sea (the planktonic decomposers) and a new scientific
method to measure it (the Dark Decay Assay) led to the discovery of a number
of overlooked ecological laws that now explain how eutrophication and degradation
work. Quite simply, the sea does not work the way scientists thought it
would. The DDA method is so simple and cheap that it places a powerful
plankton tool in the hands of the public, with which lakes, rivers and
the sea can be monitored. These discoveries are so important that scientists
cannot afford to sit on the fence. Come and listen why.

The new eraNew Zealand has entered a new era during which a new and rapidly accelerating
threat renders traditional management like fishing quotas and marine reserves
ineffective. If one would remain unaware of this, one could easily waste
resources on doing the wrong things. There is simply no excuse for continuing
to waste our precious lands, thereby killing the sea and losing our beaches
as well. Only by saving the land can we save the sea!

During 14 years of lecturing schools, Dr Anthoni has learnt how to convey
the above to children aged 11-16, so you should not be worried that the
seminars could be too difficult to understand. We hope you will rise to
the challenge!

How to book and payThe issues presented during these seminars are not only pressing but
the understanding behind them is also entirely new, never before presented
to the public. So it is understandable that the seminars fill up rather
quickly. Therefore make sure that you book well in advance to avoid disappointment.
The seminar audience has been limited to 30-40 per session, but we should
be able to flow over into an evening session from 18:30-21:30 in order
to accommodate unexpected enthusiasm.

Seminars include afternoon tea and a complimentary Seafriends CD (worth
$30) with all the necessary supporting information.

Here are a number of suggestions for booking and paying:

Booking: ring 094226212 or e-mail.
Please mention date and venue when booking. Where possible, you will receive
confirmation of your booking.

Paying: you can pay on arrival (arrive a little earlier for this)
and pay by cash or cheque. We will also be able to accept credit cards
by 'zipzap' machine but EftPos will not be available. If possible, help
us avoid invoicing businesses and government departments. You will be given
a receipt of payment.

Remember! Your payment helps us achieve more
sooner!

Private seminarsThe seminars organised by us have to cover the costs of advertising
but when you organise a private seminar, you can save in two ways, on the
one hand because we do not need to advertise, and on the other hand by
making them larger for more attendees. This can reduce the cost per person
considerably. Ring us to negotiate a cost for Dr Anthoni's time, accommodation
and travelling and most suitable date.